1/3/11

Today in Arabic class, we finished learning the rest of the alphabet, both pronunciation and writing. All along, we’ve been learning the rules of writing, such as the three long vowels and the six short vowels and the rules of connecting the letters. We also continued with more conversations of greetings. In terms of the class thus far, so far so good. I also like the fact that outside of what’s written in the curriculum, my teacher Hasnaa also tells us other useful words. I just hope I will soon learn enough Arabic to be able to carry out a full conversation with an Egyptian.

For lunch, we went to Abduh and Hayaam’s for lunch, and it was all so delicious. I was happy that we would finally get to eat a traditional Egyptian meal at an Egyptian home. All the food was new to me, but I liked it all. My favorites were the fried cauliflower, the eggplant, and the fries. Even more than the food, I liked the environment of their home. It was a very apartment in a decent neighborhood and I couldn’t help but wish that the people who live in some of the run-down flats in Zamalek could live in this kind of nice apartment.

So anyway, at Abduh’s house we were introduced to his beautiful family—his wife and two of his kids. We also played with his small white dog named Muffin who was very cute. After we were done eating, Dr. Denis gave a little talk. I just loved being at Abduh’s house and although I shouldn’t generalize, I loved the feeling of being in a true Egyptian home.

Lunch at Abdo's. Yummm!!